Tens of thousands of people die each year from infections acquired in hospitals. These “hospital acquired” infections, also referred to as nosocomial infections, are unrelated to a patient's initial hospital admission diagnosis. In the United States, it has been estimated that as many as one hospital patient in ten acquires a nosocomial infection, or 2 million patients a year. Estimates of annual costs related to nosocomial infection range from $4.5 billion to $11 billion and up. Studies have shown that at least one third of nosocomial infections are preventable.
Nosocomial infections due to resistant organisms are an extremely serious problem that threatens the U.S. healthcare system and the welfare of its citizens. Microbes can acquire resistance to antibiotics and anti-fungal and antiviral agents and as the numbers of resistant organisms increase, the number of new antimicrobial agents to treat them has not kept pace. In fact, community acquired nosocomial infections, especially methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has increased at an alarming rate.
It has been reported that more than 50% of all nosocomial infections can be directly related to the transmission of harmful bacteria by healthcare workers who have not properly washed their hands before and after each patient contact. Thus, the best means to prevent transfer of these organisms from patient to patient and to reduce the emergence of resistant organisms is hand-washing with soap and water between patient contacts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as other regulatory agencies recommend hand-washing before and after each patient encounter. Unfortunately, reports indicate that healthcare workers adhere to hand-washing guidelines less than 70% of the time. Numerous strategies have been attempted to increase healthcare worker compliance to hand-washing, but all have been largely unsuccessful.
There are many possible reasons for non-compliance with recommended hand-washing practices. For example, there may not be sufficient time to properly wash hands or wash stations may be placed in inconvenient locations. Some people simply forget to wash their hands. Others may not realize how infrequently or inadequately they comply with recommended hand-washing practices. Others still may not fully understand the benefits of hand-washing. Some or all of these issues may be addressed if means were provided to monitor compliance with recommended hand-washing practices.
The problem of insufficient hand-washing is becoming worse. Hospitals, through staff reductions, are requiring healthcare workers to attend to more patients during the healthcare provider's work shift. Additionally, high transmission rates of antibiotic resistant bacteria and viruses require greater adherence to the CDC hand-washing guidelines. Hospital administrations are searching for products and services that encourage hand-washing, and a means to ensure and measure compliance.
Similar concerns exist in other industries, such as those relating to the processing and preparation of food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Food Code (the “Food Code”) provides guidelines for preparing food and preventing food-borne illness. Retail outlets such as restaurants and grocery stores and other institutions such as nursing homes are subject to the Food Code. In addition to requiring employees to wash their hands, the Food Code requires their employer to monitor the employees' hand-washing. Despite such extensive efforts to ensure that proper hand-washing is performed, more than a quarter of all food-borne illnesses (estimated that food-borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year) are thought to be due to improper hand-washing.
Numerous prior developments have been advanced as a solution to inadequate hand-washing compliance. One prior development was directed to touch-free and automatic soap: dispensers, faucets, and hand dryers. This prior development was an attempt to make it easier for employees to wash and sanitize their hands. This prior development, however; failed to ensure that the employees actually washed or that the wash was adequate or followed best practices.
Another prior development was directed to alerting someone of the need to wash their hands. This prior development implemented a reporting system worn by a worker, which was activated when the worker leaves a specific area. The reporting system was deactivated when brought near a hand cleaning station, and then only when it was determined that the worker has used the hand cleaning station. This prior development improved the ability to ensure a hand-wash was done but did not ensure that a hand-wash compliant to standards was performed.
Solutions have been long sought but all prior developments have not taught or suggested any complete solutions, and solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art. Thus there remains a considerable need for devices and methods that can ensure a hand-wash complies with a prescribed government or industry-approved regimen.